Monday, November 30, 2009

Mommy's helper

You can count on Lukas. Messing up the living room, leaving his Lego's all over the house and... helping me feeding Matilda. Whenever he does that, Matilda will finish all the food in the bowl. She is a good eater anyway but with Lukas' help, she will finish it all. Good brother he is.


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thankful

Every day I am thankful for having a family, a home, living in a safe country, having freedom and peace. Today is no different but since it is Thanksgiving, I am taking this opportunity to thank all of you for being my friend and wishing you a wonderful day.

From my family to yours:


Sunday, November 22, 2009

Orange Thunder - 2nd place in U6 division

We are #2 in the U6 division of the Milpitas Youth Soccer, yay!! Our team, Orange Thunder, won a game this morning and qualified for the final. This afternoon we lost 0:1 but that still made us #2.

The team celebration will be at ChuckECheese's in Fremont.

Here is Lukas with his trophy.



Coaches Michael and Stephen and the team celebrating!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

New addition to our kitchen

After years of waiting and searching and searching and waiting, I finally found the perfect buffet for my kitchen! And it came just from across the street, from our neighbor, who is moving out and had a garage sale few weeks ago.

Patrick helped sanding it down and staining it so that it goes color wise well with my kitchen table that I love. We worked two days on it but it was worth every hour.

The buffet is made out of real wood and was not painted or stained before. This is how it looked before we started working on it.



I had not one helper, but two! Lukas in action.



And here is the final result. Doesn't it look awesome and perfect for our kitchen?!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Good read

Recently I have discovered Lisa See's books at our local library. It was pure coincidence that I grabbed her book from the bookshelf that was close to the check out station. It's hard to browse through the aisles and shelves with 2 kids in tow so I am lucky when I catch something for myself while leaving the library.

The first book I read from Lisa See was "Shanghai Girls". I am intrigued by the Chinese and Asian culture for many years. Maybe it is because I love and am married to a Chinese-American man or maybe it is because I love the Asian art, fragile and beautiful, delicate and minimalistic, full of well handcrafted items, with its attention to detail even in smallest items.

I will not give away the plot but I highly recommend this book if you look for a well written and fascinating story that describes the lives of women in the beginning of this century in a country that seems to live in the century before ours.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Lego-ist

Lukas loves to play with Lego. Through the years he got lots of Lego sets from the Spongebob, Star Wars and City collection. He eagerly puts the Lego together after we take it ouf of the box but few days later, after playing with the toys in a boyish way and having a sister that likes to touch the toys too, pieces start to fall apart and the brand new truck has now only wheels left or Spongebob's rocket ship wasn't as sturdy as Lukas thought after letting it fly through the air.

But this is a good thing that the toys eventually fall in many pieces because then the real fun starts. Lukas is a master in building cities, space shuttles, airplanes and helicopters, all made from his fantasy and without following any directions. His imagination is endless when it comes to explain what he has built. To me it might look like few little guys standing around, but to him is a construction site with many different elements that he patiently points out to me.

My favorite thing to do is sorting the Lego but it's not really very beneficial. After few days, everything lands back in few boxes.

Here is us and Lukas awesome space station with stormtroopers storming the base. Or something like that.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Brother & Sister

Our kids. Our pride and joy. Our king and our princess. Our sensitive but head strong children.
They are hard to get together in one photograph but I got lucky this week.





Thursday, November 12, 2009

2002 Merlot

After years of abstinence, we finally drank some wine, at home, on the sofa, just the two of us. Few days ago I felt that the time has come that Patrick and I start to enjoy the quiet evenings even more.

My all time favorite wine is from the winery Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley. When I was working with the Plaza Hotel in Monterey, we ordered this wine for all our functions and it became my favorite since then. That's like 7 years ago. I was able to keep few bottles because of the pregnancies but now the time has come.

So last night, we enjoyed this smooth, fruity, sweet-but-not-sweet wine to the last drip. Can't wait for tonight to finish the bottle.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Yummy

It's only 9 am in the morning but I already think about the dessert that is still in our fridge. Waiting for me to be eaten. To be enjoyed.

Those chewy balls filled with a sesame paste and rolled in peanuts are so delicious, I can't even explain. Whenever we go the Mayflower restaurant in Milpitas to eat dimsum, I already wait for the dessert before all other dishes arrive. That's how good they are.


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Mary Jane's

What would I do without this wonderful store where you can find any item you want at a resonable price? It's called... Target! I bet all of you know that place and love it - like me.

Anyway, how about those cute Mary Jane's that I found for Matilda? I wear those soft socky thingis for years already and now Matilda has a pair too.

She is still no keen on the idea to wear them in the house but I know that she soon will appreciate them.


Monday, November 9, 2009

Another milestone

Time flies fast. I can feel it watching Lukas and Matilda grow up. Just as of yesterday our car is one car seat lighter and we welcomed the booster seat for Lukas that he has wanted for some time now.

He loves to strap himself in and unstrap and enjoys the freedom around his body. I only hope that the booster seat is safe.

Matilda has already tried out the booster seat but she has few more years to go.


Sunday, November 1, 2009

Trick or treating - fun night!

Trick or treating last night was fun! Matilda discovered very quickly how to get the candy and she was not scared to walk up to people and show her bucket.



Kyle and Lukas.



Lukas trying out the lightsaber on sister.



Nice pose Darth Vader.



Baby Claire - ladybug, Lukas - Darth Vader, Matilda - Bumblebee, Kyle - Scream, Diane - vampire, Baby Lawrence - lion (from left to right).